[Summer vacation is over Sylvain, it's time to be a responsible student and kill demons.
Anyway, the entrance hall is full of so many paintings. So many, you guys. there's probably over a hundred paintings here. Fox friendo can sniff around but they don't detect a demon yet, they'll be on alert for any changes though.
So. How is everyone going to go about tracking down the correct painting?]
Yeah, and I wish I wasn't in school at all, but we all got dealt cards we don't like.
[ How is he going about tracking down the correct painting, you ask? Well. He's going to just. Look at them one by one. Just stare each one dead in its portrait eyes and dare it to show him his death. And if it doesn't, then he moves on. ]
Seriously... You'd think they'd want to narrow it down a little.
[ at any rate, it's better than being trapped on a demon train. in theory. so kazunari heads for the stairs, in case whatever they're looking for is up. ]
Stella, is there some kind of... I don't know, demon-detecting chant you can try?
Hmm. If the painting shows everyone an image of themselves... I'll try to narrow it down with anyone who's got red hair, in the meantime. The color might be easier to spot.
[ unless somehow a LOT OF PEOPLE have red hair in these paintings. of course, it'll only work for sylvain himself. so a demon-detecting chant would come in real handy... ]
[They can begin searching the portraits in the room. Bucky and Kazu do not find themselves in any portrait, and while Sylvain does find a few redheads none of them are of him.
Estelle though, she finds something interesting. It's not a portrait of her, but rather one of one of the people back at the hotel! It's Molly, actually. It's a portrait of Molly, just right there. Nothing seems off about it otherwise, it's just strange to see a picture of him here, isn't it?]
[ Well, Estelle might find something interesting, but Bucky doesn't, and he rapidly loses patience for this. There's more paintings here than he can stare into submission. ]
Alright, this is going nowhere fast. Everyone cover your ears.
[ He holds his gun straight up in the air and shoots a special anti-demon bullet into the ceiling. Hopefully that'll spook the demon painting or whatever--maybe one will start shaking. ]
[ well forget the paintings! the shot goes off and kazunari immediately ducks, covering his head. it's only a few seconds later that he pops his head back over the railing after glancing to see if his fox is okay. ]
Weren't we supposed to avoid property damage? The teacher's gonna kill us!
[ why even look for paintings when that's the obvious answer here! ]
[Bucky why are you like this? This is why dad loved Sylvain more.
The shooting does not drive the demon out. All it does is put a hole in the ceiling. More property damage to explain to the teacher later.
But yes, there is a painting of Molly here. Just sitting here on the wall, doing nothing particularly important. It might be worth looking into! And by 'looking into' I don't mean 'shot at', contain your violence Bucky.]
[ He watches in the aftermath for anything to change, but...it doesn't. ] Damn. [ He sighs. Of course it couldn't be easy. He turns to the others, having not really paid attention earlier. ]
[The fox does the sniffy-thing! And now the fox can actually smell something! But it takes a moment for it to really catch on to the scent, it has to smell around the area to make sure it's catching the smell right.
Meanwhile, the painting of Molly begins to change slightly. In the background a figure appears, walking closer and closer to Molly. Raising their hands towards his neck. Grabbing his neck.
Hands that are trembling, trying to fight back as they are being forced to do something unwanted. And the face of the pink-haired figure is covered in tears, as she tries to fight back against the compulsion to strangle Molly but just can't break free of it.
Estelle is the only one who sees herself murdering Molly in that picture btw, to everyone else the picture still looks like a normal portrait of Molly.
The fox yips, drawing everyone's attention to the painting of Molly. But at the same time, Estelle will feel the unbreakable compulsion to just reach out and silently strangle Sylvain. No screaming allowed, she has to try and stealth-kill while everyone is distracted by the Molly picture!]
[Estelle slinks back too, leaving room for the fox. And as the painting shifts and her eyes widen, she finds herself unable to recoil in terror. Her body resists every impulse she would normally have, as if something's been disconnected.
Something's wrong. She wants to cry for help.
She looks to Sylvain, his back turned as he studies the painting, but she can't get the words out. Her mouth won't move. Instead, she quietly unties the knot of her necktie, and before anyone can wonder why, she suddenly reaches up, wraps it around his throat, and tugs it with all her might.
She doesn't make a sound, and her face shows no emotion. She just does it.]
[ sylvain makes a choked noise of surprise as he feels the sudden pressure cinch around his neck. his hands immediately go to the fabric, trying to pry it off. he takes a step back to try and ram his attacker (he doesn't realize it's estelle just yet and is reacting on blind reflex)—also hoping to create more slack. ]
[ meanwhile, kazunari was following the fox's lead to study the painting, but couldn't find anything weird about it. except that it's molly? why is it always molly? can't the universe leave him alone and stop dragging him into these things?
bucky's cry draws his attention back to the others in an instant. ]
Wha-- H-Hey! Don't hurt her! There's no way she'd do this on purpose!
[ aahhhhh how's he supposed to help? the fox seemed to think it was the painting, so... he's going to see if he can take it off the wall?
whether he can or not... ]
Burn it! [ wait the property damage rule?! quickly he adds - ] But just this one!
[As the fox barks out a little ball of flame to light the painting on fire, the painting screams. Then, a moment later, a shadowy figure quickly dives out of the painting and into another painting further up on the wall.
At that same moment, the force controlling Estelle lets go. She is free to do as she wishes now, there's nothing controlling her anymore!
...the painting is still on fire though. And it's returned to a normal painting of a nondescript woman.]
[Estelle doesn't budge when Sylvain slams into her, and she doesn't respond to Bucky's question. She stumbles when he shoves her, though, one hand still tightly gripping the necktie while the other falls away...
But suddenly, it's as if the puppet strings have snapped, and all in an instant, she's back.
A horrified gasp escapes her lips, her eyes wide with terror. She falls to her knees and throws the necktie aside.]
I...
[Her voice falters. She knows she should go to Sylvain, see what damage she's done. But she doesn't dare. Even though she can move freely again, she feels paralyzed.]
[ he doubles over himself, gasping for breath. his throat stings, skin angry and raw where the wire-thin scabs over his neck have been disturbed. he's able to recover soon enough though, and his gaze falls to estelle with a slight frown. ]
It wasn't you. Don't worry.
[ there isn't much time to reassure her—it'll have to wait until after they finish the job. the demon they're after is already on the move, and there's no chance in hell they're letting it get away.
he thanks the other two for the quick assist, before asking, ] —Did you see where it went?
[ if they're able to locate it, he'll draw his sword and give chase ]
[ he thought burning it would help but!! the art!!! no!!!!
once the fire's simmering down, though, he turns to estelle and sylvain. ]
It went up, but more importantly - are you two okay? Do you need to see a doctor or something? We don't have to deal with the demon right now, it can wait if you both need time.
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guestservices) wrote2022-06-19 07:55 pm
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Anyway, the entrance hall is full of so many paintings. So many, you guys. there's probably over a hundred paintings here. Fox friendo can sniff around but they don't detect a demon yet, they'll be on alert for any changes though.
So. How is everyone going to go about tracking down the correct painting?]
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[ How is he going about tracking down the correct painting, you ask? Well. He's going to just. Look at them one by one. Just stare each one dead in its portrait eyes and dare it to show him his death. And if it doesn't, then he moves on. ]
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I didn't realize there'd be so many... This might take a while.
[Like, if they just leave it to Bucky to find it... but who knows, maybe he's like a curse-sniffing bloodhound and he'll find it no problem...]
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[ at any rate, it's better than being trapped on a demon train. in theory. so kazunari heads for the stairs, in case whatever they're looking for is up. ]
Stella, is there some kind of... I don't know, demon-detecting chant you can try?
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[ unless somehow a LOT OF PEOPLE have red hair in these paintings. of course, it'll only work for sylvain himself. so a demon-detecting chant would come in real handy... ]
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Estelle though, she finds something interesting. It's not a portrait of her, but rather one of one of the people back at the hotel! It's Molly, actually. It's a portrait of Molly, just right there. Nothing seems off about it otherwise, it's just strange to see a picture of him here, isn't it?]
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Alright, this is going nowhere fast. Everyone cover your ears.
[ He holds his gun straight up in the air and shoots a special anti-demon bullet into the ceiling. Hopefully that'll spook the demon painting or whatever--maybe one will start shaking. ]
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Look at this. That's Molly, isn't it?
[Estelle draws closer to the painting, pointing at it. She looks really confused.]
Why does this keep -- aahh!!
[At the sound of the gunshot, she gives a start, hands flying up to cover her ears. Bucky pls.]
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Weren't we supposed to avoid property damage? The teacher's gonna kill us!
[ why even look for paintings when that's the obvious answer here! ]
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he'll frown at the painting, next. ]
What's Molly doing here...
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The shooting does not drive the demon out. All it does is put a hole in the ceiling. More property damage to explain to the teacher later.
But yes, there is a painting of Molly here. Just sitting here on the wall, doing nothing particularly important. It might be worth looking into! And by 'looking into' I don't mean 'shot at', contain your violence Bucky.]
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What's this about Molly?
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This painting. It's not especially sinister, but it's the only thing that really stands out...
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[ as he comes back downstairs. ]
Maybe now's the time for the demon detecting thing? [ gesturing vaguely at molly's painting, he says to the fox: ] Think you can sniff it out?
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[ he gives the demon space to approach the painting, but also tries to study the canvas as he waits, to see if there's anything... odd about it? ]
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Meanwhile, the painting of Molly begins to change slightly. In the background a figure appears, walking closer and closer to Molly. Raising their hands towards his neck. Grabbing his neck.
Hands that are trembling, trying to fight back as they are being forced to do something unwanted. And the face of the pink-haired figure is covered in tears, as she tries to fight back against the compulsion to strangle Molly but just can't break free of it.
Estelle is the only one who sees herself murdering Molly in that picture btw, to everyone else the picture still looks like a normal portrait of Molly.
The fox yips, drawing everyone's attention to the painting of Molly. But at the same time, Estelle will feel the unbreakable compulsion to just reach out and silently strangle Sylvain. No screaming allowed, she has to try and stealth-kill while everyone is distracted by the Molly picture!]
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Something's wrong. She wants to cry for help.
She looks to Sylvain, his back turned as he studies the painting, but she can't get the words out. Her mouth won't move. Instead, she quietly unties the knot of her necktie, and before anyone can wonder why, she suddenly reaches up, wraps it around his throat, and tugs it with all her might.
She doesn't make a sound, and her face shows no emotion. She just does it.]
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Gh—
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[ THAT'S HIS BROTHER THERE
He immediately rushes in to shove his arms between the two and try to pry them apart, enough that Estelle's grip on the necktie will snap. ]
What are you doing?!
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bucky's cry draws his attention back to the others in an instant. ]
Wha-- H-Hey! Don't hurt her! There's no way she'd do this on purpose!
[ aahhhhh how's he supposed to help? the fox seemed to think it was the painting, so... he's going to see if he can take it off the wall?
whether he can or not... ]
Burn it! [ wait the property damage rule?! quickly he adds - ] But just this one!
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At that same moment, the force controlling Estelle lets go. She is free to do as she wishes now, there's nothing controlling her anymore!
...the painting is still on fire though. And it's returned to a normal painting of a nondescript woman.]
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But suddenly, it's as if the puppet strings have snapped, and all in an instant, she's back.
A horrified gasp escapes her lips, her eyes wide with terror. She falls to her knees and throws the necktie aside.]
I...
[Her voice falters. She knows she should go to Sylvain, see what damage she's done. But she doesn't dare. Even though she can move freely again, she feels paralyzed.]
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It wasn't you. Don't worry.
[ there isn't much time to reassure her—it'll have to wait until after they finish the job. the demon they're after is already on the move, and there's no chance in hell they're letting it get away.
he thanks the other two for the quick assist, before asking, ] —Did you see where it went?
[ if they're able to locate it, he'll draw his sword and give chase ]
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[ So much is happening!! Bucky drops his hands, no longer pulling Sylvain and Estelle apart. He's instead staring at the wall of paintings. ]
It's nearby! I didn't catch exactly which painting it went into, but it's around here!
[ POINTING HIS GUN AT THESE PAINTINGS ]
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[ he thought burning it would help but!! the art!!! no!!!!
once the fire's simmering down, though, he turns to estelle and sylvain. ]
It went up, but more importantly - are you two okay? Do you need to see a doctor or something? We don't have to deal with the demon right now, it can wait if you both need time.
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